Armor piercing rocket

ABSTRACT

An armor piercing rocket-type projectile having a drill-type penetrator embedded within the forward nose portion thereof so that upon impact the penetrator is driven forward from the projectile, into the target and displaces material as it moves therethrough.

United States Patent 1 1 3,566,793

[72] Inventor George R. Kruzell [56] References Cited 4301 Hotchkiss,Bay City, Mich. 48706 UNITED STATES PATENTS Q 2 $5 1968 741,328 10/1903Groff 102/52 1,503,769 8/1924 Ryan 102/52 Wanted 1971 2,928,348 3/1960Zisman et al. 102/93 3,005,408 10/1961 Prosen et a1. 102/93 3,283,72111/1966 Kruzell l02/49.7 3,437,289 4/1969 Biehl et a] 102/49.7X PrimaryExaminer-Verlin R. Pendegrass [54] Attorney-Watson, Cole, Grindle &Watson [52] US. Cl l02/49.3, V

102/52, 102/92.3 ABSTRACT: An armor piercing rocket-type projectilehaving [51 Int. Cl ..F42b 13/06, a drill-type penetrator embedded withinthe forward nose por- F42b 13/28 tion thereof so that upon impact thepenetrator is driven for- [SO] Field of Search 102/49.3, ward from theprojectile, into the target and displaces material 49.7, 52, 92.2, 92.3,93 as it moves therethrough.

ARR fwd PHERCHNG lhQCltET This invention relates generally to reactiontype missiles and more particularly to an armor-piercing, plastic coatedrockettype projectile having a penetrator within the forward noseportion thereof which frees itself from the missile upon impact anddeeply drills into the target.

Therefore, a wide variety of projectiles have been designed forincreased penetration of those heavy and densely thick targets such astanks, ships and the like. Also, it may become desirable to achieve deeppenetration in some areas as construction and demolition. Such designsnormally involve a specially elongated and slender-shaped projectile ora spherical or cylindrical one so as to enhance its penetratingcapability against heavily armored targets. These type projectiles,which are normally solid throughout their design, are usually launchedwhile directly in contact with the gun barrel or launcher and, becauseof their density, deterioration of the gun barrel or launcher bore willresult thereby reducing firing efficiency and accuracy and even theuseful life of the gun barrel or launcher. Also, where gun barrelrifling is preferred in order to stabilize the shell as it leaves thelauncher, tearing and rifling damage is likely to occur after only ashort interval of continued use. Accordingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide an armor-piercing projectile which is notonly spin stabilized for extremely deep penetration of the target but isdesigned to minimize damage to the gun barrel or launcher bore as ittravels therethrough.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide an armor-piercingprojectile having a penetrator embedded within the nose portion thereofso that upon impact, the penetrator is driven forward into the targetand displaces material as it moves therethrough.

A further object of the present design is to provide an armor-piercingprojectile of the character described wherein the penetrator has spiralgrooves along its outer surface so that as it leaves the projectile uponimpact it will deeply penetrate the object with a drilling motion as acontinuation of missile spin caused by rifling in the gun or launcherbore.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide arocket-type armor-piercing projectile as aforedescribed hav ing abooster charge and a propelling charge for selfpropelling the projectileout of the gun or launcher.

A still further object of the instant invention is to provide animproved rocket-type armor-piercing missile of the character referred towherein a nozzle plate is provided between the booster and propellingcharges which is of an extremely efficient and simple design.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a rockettypearmor-piercing projectile encased in a resilient plastic coating so asto reduce the friction of the rocket body as it is forced through therifle barrel or launcher.

Uther objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will beapparent from the following detailed description of the invention whenconsidered with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Flt t is an axial section through a generally cylindrical missileconstructed in accordance with the invention, a portion of the boostercharge of the missile being shown in elevatron;

H6. 2 is an elevational view of the rocket body of FlG. l; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the penetrator shown in Flt}.R.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views there is shownin lFlG. l a missile or projectile particularly adapted for use withshoulder-type missile guns or launchers of the class exemplified in myUS. Pat. No. 3,333,508, issued Aug. 1, l967. The missile illustrated inPM]. El comprises hollow cylindrical missile body til open at its wardend and having a solid conical forward end ill. Near the rearward end anozzle plate 12 is secured within the missile body it) and held againstaxial movement forward and aft by means of projections l3, Mrespectively. Projection i3 is formed as by crimping after the body MDhas been shaped and formed which is then filled with a solid fuel chargeto. The nozzle plate 12 is then inserted in the rearward end of the bodyand held from going forward by annular projection 13 after the nozzleplate is butted thereagainst. The body ll) is then crimped at its openend to produce the projection l4 thereby preventing the nozzle platefrom moving rearward. A consumable booster cartridge 15; cylindrical inshape and filled with a booster charge 17, is secured to the aft end thebody lit) in a suitable manner such as shown in HG. l of th drawings.

The solid fuel l6 within the body it) functions as the sustaining orpropelling charge and may consist of any conventional solid rocket fueladapted, when ignited to discharge a jet of gasses rearward through thenozzle plate. The booster charge is of cylindrical shape axially alignedwith the body 10 and preferably housed within and bonded to the boostercartridge 15. Also, the booster charge may consist of a composite of aslow burning powder and a fast burning powder bonded together to thenozzle plate 12 similar to that shown in my US. Pat. No. 3,283,721,issued Nov. 8, 1966. The arrange ment of the propellant and boostercharges is such that, in operation of the missile, when the timer origniter (not shown) is detonated in a conventional manner, such as byconcussion created through impact of the firing pin on the missile gunas disclosed in my first mentioned patent, this will ignite both thepowder charge or charges l7. ignition of the fast burning powder willserve to eject the missile from the launcher while ignition of the slowburning powder will act to ignite the propellant charge 16 within thebody it after the missile is launched.

it should be noted that the nozzle plate 12 is disclike in its overallshape and is of arc-shaped cross section which is uniform between itsperimeter and its nozzle tip. Such a disc or nozzle plate may be formedby piercing and shaping in one easy operation.

in order to prevent excessive wear and damage to the launcher bore andits rifling therein, a plastic resilient coating id is provided aboutthe body portion ll) of the rocket. in this way, friction of the rocketbody as it is forced through the rifle or launcher bore is significantlyreduced while efficiency during the launching operation is, on the otherhand, vastly im proved. Integral with the cover, an extemal encirclingrifling ring l9 may be provided to extend outward thereof so as toengage with rifling where such is provided within the launcher or gunbore. Of course, such a ring could .altematively be formed onto therocket body it).

Embedded within the forward conical nose portion 111 of the projectile,a penetrator 211 is provided, shown more clearly by PM]. 3, in the formof an elongated cylinder having its own forward conical portion andprovided. with a series of spiral grooves 22 along its outer surfaceextending from the conical nose end to its rearward end. The grooves 22are formed so as to cause an axial spin of the penetrator 2t and thesame direction as that extended to the projectile itself by means of therifling rings or lenses l9 in engagement with the gun bore rifling. inthis way, as the penetrator 21! is freed from the nose portion it uponimpact with its target, it is not only spin stabilized to ensure aconstant forward motion, but will act to drill itself deeply into thetarget-displacing material as it moves forward by means of its spiralgrooves 22 coming into contact with the material and assisting in itscontinuing spin.

Returning to FIG. 1 of the drawings, it can be seen that the resilientplastic cover id is actually molded onto the surface of body portion lbby means of circumferential grooves 22 intersecting with longitudinalgrooves 24, more clearly depicted by PEG. 2. in this way, twisting andtearing away of the resilient cover or coating 18 from the rocket body Wis prevented. Accordingly, the effectiveness of such a coating is notdiminished white the projectile travels through the gun or launcher aswould most likely occur in other plastic coated rocltet bodies of thistype.

Also, it should be noted that the aft portion of the cartridge 15 is ofa shape similar to that of the missile shown in my first mentionedpatent so that an extractor for removal of unfired ammunition from thefiring may be provided in which the overhanging rearwardly presentedface of its recess functions in the manner of hooks to engage behind therear end rim of the booster cartridge casing 15.

rom the foregoing, it is apparent that a reaction type missile has beendescribed which is not only quite simple in operation and easy tomanufacture but is very effective in deeply penetrating heavy and thicktargets in a stabilized drill-type fashion but without the possibilityof damaging on unduly wearing the launcher or gun bore as the projectiletravels therethrough. Also, the manner of using an array of annular andlongitudinal grooves involves a simple technique for ensuring theintegrity of the coated missile body during handling and launching.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. lt is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise as specifically described.

lclaim:

1. A reaction-type missile capable of being projected from the missilelauncher comprising a cylindrical hollow body open at its rearward endand having an integral, solid conical forward end, a nozzle platepositioned within said body near said rearward end, means on said bodyfor maintaining said plate securely therewithin, a propelling charge ofrocket fuel within said body, a cylindrical booster charge affixedrearwardly of said plate as a coaxial extension of said body, aresilient plastic cover completely covering said body, including saidforward end, so as to reduce the friction of the missile as it is forcedthrough the launcher, an outwardly extending annular rifling ringprovided solely on said cover near said body rearward end, the outersurface of said cylindrical body, including the outer surface of saidforward end, being provided with a plurality of intersectingcircumferential and longitudinal grooves thereon to solely prevent anytwisting or tearing of said cover therefrom as the missile is forcedthrough the launcher, and an elongated cylindrical armor-piercingpenetrator axially embedded within said solid conical forward end, saidpenetrator having spiral grooves along its outer surface extending fromthe forward end to the rearward end thereof whereby, upon impact of themissile with a target, said penetrator will be driven forward from themissile and deeply penetrate the target with a drilling motion as acontinuation of missile spin caused by said rifling means in engagementwith rifling within the missile launcher.

1. A reaction-type missile capable of being projected from the missilelauncher comprising a cylindrical hollow body open at its rearward endand having an integral, solid conical forward end, a nozzle platepositioned within said body near said rearward end, means on said bodyfor maintaining said plate securely therewithin, a propelling charge ofrocket fuel within said body, a cylindrical booster charge affixedrearwardly of said plate as a coaxial extension of said body, aresilient plastic cover completely covering said body, including saidforward end, so as to reduce the friction of the missile as it is forcedthrough the launcher, an outwardly extending annular rifling ringprovided solely on said cover near said body rearward end, the outersurface of said cylindrical body, including the outer surface of saidforward end, being provided with a plurality of intersectingcircumferential and longitudinal grooves thereon to solely prevent anytwisting or tearing of said cover therefrom as the missile is forcedthrough the launcher, and an elongated cylindrical armor-piercingpenetrator axially embedded within said solid conical forward end, saidpenetrator having spiral grooves along its outer surface extending fromthe forward end to the rearward end thereof whereby, upon impact of themissile with a target, said penetrator will be driven forward from themissile and deeply penetrate the target with a drilling motion as acontinuation of missile spin caused by said rifling means in engagementwith rifliNg within the missile launcher.